Hayden Ballantyne hopes to emulate his 2014 All Australian season next year, starting with a solid pre-season.

The exciting small forward was kept to just 15 games and 15 goals in 2015, due to a significant injury to his pectoral tendon that had him miss seven weeks in the second half of the year.

Spending time with his young family during the off-season is priority, the 28-year-old already has one eye on the pre-season that starts this month.

“We’re actually building a house, which will take up a fair bit of time,” Ballantyne said.

“But I can’t wait to knuckle down into the pre-season.”

Ballantyne kicked a career-best 49 goals in season 2014 and earned an All-Australian call-up, an output that is his new benchmark.

“Last year, I had an interrupted pre-season with jaw surgery and stuff like that,” Ballantyne said.

“I’m hoping for an uninterrupted pre-season like 2014 and come into the season ready to go.

“The pre-season is critical to how you go during the year.”